Electric block system for railways



No. 6|7,|39. Patented Jan. 3, I899. H. BALUSS, In. ELECTRIC BLOCK SYSTEMFDR RAILWAYS.

(Application filed Dec. 31, 1897.) (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

me Nnams Perms co, PHOIO-LITND. msumcron, n. c.

nrrnn TATES A'rn'r Prion.

ELECTRIC BLOCK SYSTEM FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 617,139, dated January3, 1899.

Application filed December 31, 1897. Serial No 664,970. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HAMILTON BALUSS, Jr. a citizen of the United States,residing at WVayne, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, haveinvented a new and useful Electric Block System for Railways, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of a block system for railways especiallydesigned for overhead electric railways or trolley-lines, although, asshall be hereinafter specified, the system of signaling embodied in myinvention may be applied to other kinds of railways.

The object of my invention is to provide a block system embodying animproved arrangement of trolley-wires at and adjacent in both directionsto a station, (which may be a switch, a turnout, or the end of ablock,)there being a section of detached insulated trolley-wire in advance ofeach station extending thereto and a second section of similar detachedinsulated trolley-wire leading from the station, the length of eachdetached insulated section being sufficient to prevent a car or trainmoving under its whole length without current and all of these detachedsections being in line with and in continuation of the main line oftrolley-wire, so that a trolley will ride naturally from the main lineupon one of the sections or from a section upon the main line,current-controlling mechanism being provided operated by the car ortrain, whereby upon leaving a station and while upon a live detachedsection the car will operate a circuit-controller, which will close aline-battery circuit and through the medium of a relay will close alocal-battery circuit, which will operate a signal apparatus to show adanger-signal at the next station, the same apparatus by the samemovement disconnecting the main trolleywire, whereby the currenttherefrom will be cut off from the first detached section of insulatedtrolley-wire, so that no current would pass through it to another car ortrain approaching from the opposite direction. An-

other circuit-controlling mechanism in my system is operated by the caras it leaves the second section of detached trolley-wire, and thiscloses the local-battery circuit, operating a signal apparatus at thestation j ustle'ft, d isplaying a danger-signal, and cutting off themaintrolley-circuit from the detached section of trolley-wire which hasjust been used.

A third circuit-controlling apparatus is operated by the car just beforeit reaches the first detached section of trolley-wire of the nextstation, the result of which is to close the local-battery circuit ofthis station, whereby the signal is changed to safety and the maintrolley-wire connected to the first detached section of trolley-wire ofthe second station, under which the car is about to pass' A fourthcircuit-controlling apparatus is operated by the car while upon thisdetached section of trolley-wire just before itreaches the station,which closes the line-battery circuit through a relay, which closes thelocalbattery circuit at the first station, thereby operating thesignaling apparatus at the first station to show safety and to connectthe main trolley-wire with the second detached section of insulatedtrolley-wire at the first station, thereby supplying it with current.

With this object in view my invention con sists in the improved systemof construction and arrangement of trolley-wires and the improvedconstruction, arrangement, and combination of parts of thecircuit-controlling devices and their operating mechanism, hereinafterfully described, and afterward specifically pointed out in the appendedclaims. In order to enable others skilled in the art to which myinvention most nearly appertains. to make and use the same, I will nowproceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being badto the accompanyin g drawings, and the letters and numerals of referencemarked thereon, in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View illustratingthe operation of my improved system. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verticalsectional view through the signal-box. Fig. 3is a horizontal sectionalView through the signal-box on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, looking upward.Fig. at is a detail perspective View of the circuitbreaking disk andsignal-target. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View of the switch mechanism to be operated by the spreader on the trolley-pole. Fig. 6 is avertical sectional View of the same on a plane at right angles to thetrolley-wire with the parts in their normal positions. Fig. 7 is afragmentary sec tional view on the same plane, the parts being shownwith the spreader in action and the circuit closed. Fig. 8 is a verticalsection on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7, looking in the direction of thearrows. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the arrangement ofthe trolley-wires at a switch.

Like numerals and letters of reference mark the same parts wherever theyoccur throughout the various figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings the stations hereinbefore referred to areillustrated as turnout-switches, and they will be so described in thisspecification; but I desire it to be understood that my invention may beapplied where these stations would represent switches, crossings, theends of blocks, and places where it is desired to display signals andopen or close circuits.

Referring now to Fig. 1, A indicates the main trolley-wire, throughwhich the current is supplied from any suitable generator. At eachstation the wire A is turned aside and conducted for any suitable orgiven distance on each side of a station to one side of and parallelwith the direction the main line would take if uninterrupted, as at Aand A and when a turnout is used the wire for fur nishing current to acar moving in the turnout is connected to the turned-aside portions A,as seen at A Figs. 1 and 9. The break in the main line at and on eachside of each station formed by this turning aside of the main wire A isfilled in by two sections B" B and O O of detached insulatedtrolley-wire, lying in the main line, insulated from each other and fromthe main wire, but arranged to permit the trolley-wheel or othercurrentcollector to pass uninterruptedly from wire A to either of thesesections, or vice versa. The stations shown in Fig. 1 are indicated asturnouts B and O, and a description of one of them and of the lines andmechanism from it to the other will be sufficient to explain theconstruction of the whole road, as those parts are simply multiplied innumber, according to the length of the road, and are unchanged inconstruction or operation.

To carry out the hereinbefore-expressed object of my invention, Iprovide in each section or block of road four current-controllers orcontact-switches, those marked D, E, F, and G being arranged precedingand succeeding the station B, D and E being at the left and F and G atthe right, while those marked D, E, F, and G bear the same relation tostation 0, the controllers of each station being arranged to bring D atthe point where the trolley-wheel will pass from the main wire A to thedetached section B, the controller E at a point where the car willoperate it while under the section B and just as it is about to pass tothe turnout, the controller F at a corresponding point with relation tothe opposite end of the turnout and the section 13*, and the controllerG in position to be operated by the car just after its trolley haspassed from the section B to the main trolleywire A.

The switches or current-controllers are all alike and are illustrated indetail in Figs. 5 to 9 of the drawings. Their construction and operationwill be specifically set forth hereinafter, as will the construction andoperation of the signal apparatus, which are also duplicates and areillustrated in detail in Figs. 2, 3, and 4.

In Fig. l I is a line-battery circuit passing through a relay 1 andgrounded at 1 This relay operates to close a normally open localbatterycircuit J, operating an electromagnet J, and the line-battery circuit iscontrolled by a switch or controller on the trolley-line to the left ofthe parts thereof illustrated in Fig. 1, the result of its operationwhen the car actuates it being to close the local-battery circuit J,thus energizing the electromagnet J and causing it to operate thesignaling apparatus J 2 to show the danger-signal and open the circuitfrom the main trolleywire A through the wires J and J to the insulateddetached section B of trolley-wire. This is the normal condition when acar traveling to the right reaches the controller or switch D andoperates it, which has the effect of closing the local-battery circuitJ, energizing the signal apparatus J, and closing the circuit from themain trolley-wire A, wire J and wire J 4 to the detached insulatedsection B, thus supplying that section of wire with the main current andpermitting the car to pass under it. As the car passes to and thetrolley operates the controller E the action, through a line-batterycircuit K, will be the same as will occur when the trolley operates thecontroller E, as will be fully described hereinafter. The continuedmovement of the car causes the controller F to be operated just as thetrolley leaves the switch B, while passing under the section B suchoperation closing a line-battery circuit L through a relay L, which inturn closes a 10- cal-battery circuit N, energizing an electromagnet Nto actuate a signal apparatus N? to display a danger-signal and cuttingoff the circuit from the main trolley-wire A and the wires N and Nthrough the detached section 0 and depriving that section of current. Assoon as the trolley passes from the detached section B upon the mainwire A it operates the controller G, which closes the local-batterycircuit M through the wires G and G and energizes the electromagnet M,operating the signal apparatus M to display a dangersignal anddisconnecting the main trolleywire A (through the wires J 3 and M fromthe detached insulated section B so that said section is dead ordeprived of current.

From the foregoing description the opera tion of all the mechanism of acomplete railway equipped with my system will be read- .ily understood,inasmuch as each succeeding block of the road is but a duplicate of thatIIO described, each controller being placed in the same relativeposition, connected up in the same manner, and capable of the samefunction in every section or block of the road.

Stated briefly, the results of the operation of my system are asfollows: The normal condition of all the parts of my system is to haveall signal apparatus showing safety-signals and all of the detachedinsulated sections connected with the main trolley-wire and suppliedwith current, and a car or train starting out will, we will say, firstoperate the controller F. The operation of this controller will firstshow a danger-signal at N being at the next station, as O, which willwarn the motorman of a car coming in the opposite direction that a caris between stations B and O. For fear that the motorman may fail toobserve this signal, may misinterpret it by reason of color-blindness,or may fail to obey the signal, my system goes further, and the sameaction of the signal apparatus N breaks a connection and disconnects thedetached section C from the main trolley-wire A,which is the only sourceof current for the detached sections, thus interposing a stretch of deadtrolley-wire between the two cars, compelling the car approaching fromthe right to stop. If by the momentum of the car coming from the rightit passes under the dead trolley, it can be backed by shifting thetrolley to the turned-aside section A of the main trolleywire A and runupon the turnout by running the trolley upon the wire A over theturnout, which is a live wire, being permanently connectedto the wire A.Thus it is rendered absolutely impossible to have a head-on collision,except by failure of the mechanism to work or by deliberate intent andaction of the motorman. All of this having been the result of theoperation of the controller F the car passes on its course off thedetached section B and operates the controller G, with the result thatthe local-battery circuit M is closed, energizing the magnet M andoperating the signal apparatus M to show danger to a car following onthe same track, thus notifying a car coming from the left that there isa car on the section or block of the road between stations 13 and O. Forthe reasons before given my system by the same action of the controllerG also renders it impossible for the following car to pass under thedetached section B by disconnecting it from the main wire A, leaving itdead or without current. Thus a rear-end collision is renderedimpossible, and if necessary the following car can move onto the turnoutby shifting its trolley to section A of the wire A and using section Aconnected therewith, as before stated.

The car is now on the main track between sage the car reaches thecontroller D just before the trolley is to pass onto the detachedsection 0 at a given distance from station 0. The action of thecontroller F having killed or deprived this section of current, itbecomes necessary to connect it up with the main wire A before the carcan move under it. This is accomplished when the car operates thecontroller D, which closes the local-battery circuit N, energizing themagnet N and causing it to operate the signal apparatus N to show safetyand connecting up the section 0 with the wire A, so that it is againalive or supplied with current, enabling the car to pass along under it.Then the car has reached the controller E, the block or section is aboutto be cleared, and the ac wire A, so that it is again alive or suppliedwith current to enable any following car to pass under it. i

A car passing over the road finds all signals normally at safety and alldetached sections of trolley-wire alive, and by reason of thearrangement of my system leaves them in the same normal positions andconditions when it has passed beyond the next succeeding station.

All of the line-battery circuits are properly grounded, as shown at l KL O P R in Fig. 1.

It will be readily understood that acar passing from right to left willoperate the controllers in reverse order, but with precisely the sameresults.

It will be further understood that in the operation of my system I neednot confine myself to the use of any particular form of electromagnets,relays, controllers, or signal- Referring to Figs. '5, 6, 7, and 8, Aindicates the main trolley-wire suspended from hangers 10 and 11,depending from rods 12 and 13, lying above and at right angles to thewire A. These rods 12 and 13 are connected together by end rods 14 and15, forming a a rectangular frame which is connected by wires 16 and 17to poles or other supports, (not shown,) by means of which it issupported at a proper distance above wire A. The insulators 18 and 19are interposed between the rods 12 and 13 and the trolley-wirehangers 10and 11. A cross-rod 20 is mounted in brackets 21, secured to the rods 12and 13, and from this cross-rod depend two arms 22, which are providedwith horizontal lower ends 23, connected to the main bodyby insulators24, from which extend braces to the end rod 14. Brackets 26 depend fromthe rods 12 and 13 and support a hood or sleet-box 27, which is rigidlyheld in position by means of braces 28, secured to its outer side attheir lower ends and to the end rod 15 at their upper ends. Pivotallymounted in the ends of the sleet-box is a rock-shaft 29, upon which issecured arms 30, to the lower end of which is attached a plate or strip31, of metal, having its outer ends curved outward, as at 32, a similarplate or strip 34 being secured to the outer end of the horizontalportions 23 of arms 22, said strip also having its ends 35 curvedoutward. The central portion of the arms 26 is formed of insulatedmaterial, as at 36. A binding-screw 37 inside the box secures a wire Dto a contact-plate 39, said contact-plate being mounted on insulatingmaterial 40, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7. A contactspring 41 isnormally held away from the plate 39 and is secured by a binding-screw42,which also secures a wire D said binding-screw passing through aninsulator 44. Slots 45 are formed in the upper ends of the arms 30, inwhich engage pins 46, around which are coiled springs 47 to normallyhold the arm 30 in a position to cause a pin 48 to press against thecontact-spring 41 and hold it out of engagement with the contact-plate39, thereby holding the circuit, of which the wires D and D thecontact-plate 39, and the contact-spring 41 are a part, normally broken.38 indicates the trolley-wheel, and 43 the trolley-pole. Spreaders 49are secured to the pole below the wheel and in line with the spacebetween the two plates orstrips of metal 31 and 34. When the trolleywheel and pole are carried along by the car with the wheel in contactwith the main trolleywire A, the spreader-s 49 will pass between theoutwardly-curved ends 32 and 35 of the plates or strips 31 and 34, andthe spreaders being wider than the space between the strips and thestrip 34 being stationary the strip 31 will be moved laterally withrelation to the trolley pole and wire, which movement will carry theupper end of the rod 30 in the opposite direction against the action ofthe spring 47, carrying the pin 48 with it, and 'thus permitting thespring 41 by virtue of its own resiliency to contact with the plate 39and complete the circuit through the wires D and D As before describedwith relation to Fig. 1, the wires D and D form part of a local-batterycircuit, by means of which the electromagnets J are energized and causedto attract the armature 50 of the signal apparatus J thereby permittingthe disk 51 to be rotated by means of any desired motor, such asclockwork. (Not shown.)

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, 52 indi-' cates a box of any desiredshape adapted to be secured upon any suitable signal-post to 58, havingdownwardly-depending frames 59,

in which are secured pieces of mica or other transparent material 60.Projecting inside of the box from its side, parallel with and above thebracket 54, is a bracket 61, made of insulating material, provided witha central opening for the passage of the post 56 and formed at its outerend into a lamp-shelf 62, upon which to place a lamp in position to havethe rays of light therefrom pass through the transparent mica pieces 60and the panes 53 when in proper position. The contact-disk 51 is mountedon the upright or post 56 and, as before stated, is propelled in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 3 by means of any suitablemotor.(Notillustrated) Thearmature 50 heretofore mentioned is secured upon apivoted arm 63, to which is attached an escapement-bar 64 by means of aninsulator 65. The outer end of the escapement-bar 64 is at a sufficientdistance from the disk 51. to permit a double series of pins 66 and 67to pass over it, and its extreme end is bent upward toward the disk. Thedisk is composed of metal, except two segmental pieces 68 and 69, set inopposite sides of its periphery, each occupying in the application of myinvention.

here illustrated about one-fourth of the circumference of the disk,although the number of inserted insulating-segments may be in-.

creased at will, according to circumstances. A brush 70 normally bearsagainst the periphery of the disk and is connected to but insulated fromthe interior of the signal-box. The wire J is connected to the brushbyasuitable binding-screw, and the wire J 4 enters the box and isconnected to the bracket 54 by a suitable binding-screw. When, ashereinbefore explained,a magnet J is energized by closing thelocal-battery circuit J, it attracts the armature 50 and draws theescapement-bar 64, with said armature, toward the magnet. The end of theescapement-bar in its normal position being in front of a pin 66, whenthe armature is attracted by the magnet and the escapement bar drawninto the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 the end will no longerrest under the pin 66, but will pass over the pin 67, leaving the pin 66free and no longer an impediment to the turning of the contact-disk 51by means of its motor. The disk will be turned, and if the circuit isheld closed sufiiciently long the next pin 67, when the disk is carriedaround, will come in contact with the outer bent end of theescapement-bar 64, and thus stop the rotation of the disk. The disk 51,as illustrated in Fig. 3, is shown with one of the insulatingsegments incontact with the brush 70,and as a consequence the circuit isdisconnected; but when the quarter-turn of the disk has taken place, asjust hereinbefore described, the brush will rest in contact with themetal portion of the disk, which will complete the circuit through wireJ brush 70, disk 51, post 56, bracket 54, and wire J*. This circuit, ashereinbefore described, extends from the main trolley-wire A to thedetached insulated section B of the trolleywire.

It will be observed by reference to Fig. 4 that the rack 58, carryingthe mica or other transparent panes in the frame 59, is so adjusted onthe post 50 as to bring these. panes immediately over the metallicportions of the disk 51. By virtue of this arrangement when the brush 70is in contact with the metallic portion of the disk the mica or otherpanes, which are transparent, or nearly so, and are colored red toindicate danger, are removed to positions at right angles to those ofthe panes 53, which are white or of clear glass to indicate safety.\Vhen, however, the disk has been operated so as to bring the brush 70into contact with one of the insulating-segments of the disk 51, thedanger-signal panes 60 will hang between the lamp and the clear panes53, thus showing a red light in both directions.

hen the local-battery circuit J is broken, the electromagnet J willrelease the escapement-bar 64:, when the spring 71 will draw theescapement-bar into the position shown in Fig. 3, a stop-bracket 72preventing its further movement in that direction, the position thusnormallyassumed being the proper one to hold the disk 51 against beingturned by its motor until the local-battery circuitJ is again closed bythe operation of the circuit-controller E, thereby again energizing theelectromagnet J and drawing the escapement-bar into the position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 3 and permitting the disk 51 to be turned onestep until the next pin 60 comes in contact with the escapement-bar.

From the foregoing description the construction and operation of mysystem and the particular circuit-controllers and signal apparatuspreferred by me will be readily understood, and the advantages attendingthe use of my system will be obvious. As before stated, I wish it to beunderstood that I do not confine myself strictly to the exactconstruction and arrangement of devices herein described and shown foroperating my system, but hold that any slight changes or variations,either in the construction or arrangement of the various parts, such asmight be suggested to the ordinary mechanic or electrician, willproperly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.-

Having thus fully described my system and the improved means forcarrying it into operation, What I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, 1s

1. A system comprising a railway provided with a trolley-wire forsupplying current thereto, a plurality of stations at which thetrolley-wire is bent aside and run parallel with the main line, twoinsulated sections of detached trolley-wire occupying the gap in themain line made by turning the main wire' aside, a switch at one stationoperated by a moving car for disconnecting. the current from a detachedsection in advance of a car, and a switch operated by a passing car todisconnect the current from a detached section at a station in the rearof the car, substantially as set forth.

2. An electric-railway system comprising a trolley-line composed ofportions of the main trolley-wire and detached sections of trolleywirein advance of and in the rear of a series of stations, and asystem ofcircuit-controllers comprising one in position to be operated by thetrolley while upon a detached section and leaving a station todisconnect the current from a detached section at the next station inadvance of the car, and a second to cut off the current from thedetached section which the trolley has left, substantially as set forth.

3. An electric-railway system comprising a trolley-line composed ofportions of the main trolley-wire and detached sections of a trolleywirein advance of andin the rear of a series of stations, and asystem ofcircuit-controllers comprising one in position to be operated by thetrolley while upon a detached section and leaving a station todisconnect the current from a detached section at the next station inadvance of a car, a second to cutoff the current from the detachedsection which the trolley has left, one to be operated by the car justbefore reaching the detached section of Wire at the station in advanceto restore the current to the detached section the car is approaching,and one to be operated by the car while under this detached section torestore the current to the detached section at the station from whichthe car started, substantially as set forth.

4:- A block-signaling system for railways comprising duplicate signalapparatus at each station adapted to be operated by the closing ofnormally open line and local-battery circuits, in combination withcircuit-controllers, as follows, viz. one to be operated by a carleaving a station to cause a danger-signal to be displayed at the nextstation, a second to cause a danger-signal to be displayed at thestation the car is leaving, one to change the danger-signal at theadvance station to safety, and a fourth to change the danger-signal atthe rear station to safety, substantially as set forth.

5. A block system for electric railways comprising a series of stations,a trolley-line consisting of a main wire between stations, interruptedby a detached wire in the main line before and after each station,signaling apparatus and switches at each station, and a series of fourcircuit-controllers in each block, the first actuating the signalingapparatus to deaden a section of wire at the advance station and displaythere a danger-signal, the second to deaden a section of wire at therear station and display there a dangersigual, the third to connect upthe dead section at the advance station and change the signal to safety,and the fourth to connect up the dead section at the rear station andchange its signal to safety, substantially as set forth.

6. A system of trolley-wires for an electric railway comprising a maintrolley-wire turned out of line at intervals and run parallel with theline at one side thereof, two detached sections of wire in the main linefilling the gap made by turning the main wire aside, a loop connected ateach end with the main wire and mounted over a turnout, and two branchesone connected to each detached section and mounted over the turnoutparallel with the loop from the main wire, insulated from it and fromeach other, substantially as set forth.

7. A circuit-controlling apparatus for electric railways comprising askeleton frame, insulated hangers therefrom, the trolley-wire carried onsaid hangers, braced arms depending from the frame, a plate or strip ofmetal carried by the arms on one side of the wire and insulated from theframework, a sleet boX or hood suspended from the frame on the otherside of the wire, a switch therein normally open, an arm pivoted in thesleet-box and adapted to close the circuit at the switch, a strip orplate of metal carried by the sleetbox arm and normally held at a shortdistance from the plate on the other side of the wire and a spreader onthe trolley-pole adapted to pass between the two plates and move thepairs of pins projecting from the face of the disk arranged in twoconcentric circles, the pins of the two circles being equal in numberbut slightly out of true radial lines, an escapement-bar carrying anarmature and engaging the pins as the disk is rotated, an electromagnetin a local-battery circuit for attracting the armature and operating thees- 6o capement-bar, a spring for normally holding the armature awayfrom the electromagnet, and a bracket for limiting its movement by thespring, substantially as set forth.

9. In a signaling apparatus, the combiuation of a disk of metal having aseries of insulating-segments in its periphery and connected up in acircuit extending through its shaft, the disk and a brush bearing on itsperiphery, means for giving a step-by-step 7o movement to the disk tobring the brush alternately in contact with the disk and aninsulatingsegment, a cage mounted on the shaft of the disk carrying twooppositely-lo cated transparent colored panes or curtains, a lamplocated in the cage, and a box in which the apparatus is housed havingclear panes opposite each other, whereby the lamp will show alternatelya clear light in opposite directions, and a colored light in the samedirections, all substantially as set forth.

HAMILTON BALUSS, JR.

Witnesses:

HAMILTON BALUss, CHAS. E. BRooK.

